Social media was buzzing Saturday after LeBron James reportedly opted out of the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that although James declined his $51.4 million player option for next season, it is expected that he will return to the Lakers on a new contract.
Despite the high likelihood of LeBron remaining in L.A., several NBA fans took to X on Saturday to joke about the possibility of James leaving after the Lakers seemingly went to great lengths this offseason to accommodate him:
The Lakers have already been active this summer, hiring a new head coach and adding a couple of new players via the NBA draft.
Darvin Ham was fired after two seasons as head coach of the Lakers, and he was replaced by former NBA guard JJ Redick.
Hiring Redick was a controversial decision since he has no previous head coaching experience, but it is widely believed that James’ relationship with Redick played a significant role in the hiring.
James and Redick are friends and they had a podcast together called Mind the Game Pod, so it is safe to assume Redick had LeBron’s stamp of approval.
However, an even bigger sign that LeBron is almost certain to stay in L.A. is the fact that the Lakers selected his son, Bronny James, with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft.
LeBron mentioned in the past that he would love to play with Bronny in the NBA one day, and provided LeBron re-signs, he will have a chance to make history with Bronny as the first father-son duo ever in the NBA at the same time.
Given Bronny’s presence, it would perhaps be the biggest shock in NBA history if LeBron signed elsewhere after opting out, which is why so many fans got a kick out of imagining the scenario.
As newsworthy as it would be, all signs point toward LeBron instead re-signing with the Lakers, playing alongside his son and attempting to win a championship with Redick coaching him up from the sidelines.